Police find vehicle believed involved in fatal Radnor hit and run

Radnor police released this surveillance video of white SUV believed to be involved in a fatal hi-run accident in the township.
Submitted Photo

RADNOR >> Radnor police have found the vehicle that they believe ran over a 69-year-old man who was crossing Lancaster Avenue on March 6, killing him.

The vehicle, a white GMC Yukon, is registered to a Willistown, Chester County, address. Police have a person of interest who is under investigation, said Police Superintendent William Colarulo.

No arrests have been made at this time.

On Friday, Radnor police held a press conference seeking the public’s help in finding the vehicle and posting a $10,000 reward for information, and releasing video and several images of the white SUV believed involved.

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Fred Gitterman, the victim, was crossing in the 500 block of Lancaster Avenue around 8:08 p.m. when he was struck by a white SUV. The SUV slowed down, but then sped off west on Lancaster Avenue. Multiple video surveillance cameras caught images of the SUV until it turned left on Paoli Pike. Gitterman, who has addresses in both Radnor and Media, apparently ate dinner in a local restaurant just before the fatal accident, police said.

Gitterman was taken to Bryn Mawr Hospital and was pronounced dead a short time later, said Deputy Superintendent Chris Flanagann. When police came to the scene bystanders were “applying CPR,” said Flanagan.

The SUV “was seen speeding away from the accident,” headed west toward Chester County. Videotape shows that the damaged SUV headed west on Lancaster Avenue before turning left on Paoli Pike in Paoli.

Highway Patrol Officer Ken Piree said the Yukon was a 2016 or later model. The vehicle has damage to the front driver’s side headlight, the left fender and bumper, he said. Witnesses said the vehicle’s brake lights flashed before it left the scene.

“We are still processing and collecting other evidence,” said Piree. So far the license number of the SUV has not been determined but more video is being studied, he said.

“We don’t know the reason the person didn’t stop but clearly they knew they hit somebody,” he said. “They applied the brakes. We have a witness statement from a parking lot … For whatever reason the person didn’t stop. Had they stopped, this would have been just an accident,” he said.

Delaware County District Attorney Kat Copeland said, “We are attempting to identify the driver of the vehicle.” Radnor Township and the District Attorney’s office are offering the $10,000 reward that leads to the arrest and conviction of the driver, she said. Asked later what charges might be filed, Copeland said that a determination had not yet been made.

“We would encourage the individual responsible for this crime to turn themself in,” she said.

Flanagan said that Radnor police and county detectives were investigating and detectives are “out on the street” looking for more witnesses, along with other surveillance video that might help them identify the vehicle and the driver, he said.

“We’re looking for the community’s support,” said Flanagan. “We believe they can help us solve this crime.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 610-688-0500 or 911.